Josie
Croatia has a proud Junior Eurovision tradition, winning the first event in 2003. Can Josie repeat that 11 years later?Fourteen year old Josie – full nameJosephine Ida Zec – was born in the US before moving back to Croatia with her parents as a two month old baby.
Her brother Darian was born three years later and by then Josie was already involved in music, dance and acting lessons while still in kindergarten. These interests continued, with six years of violin lessons, being selected for the ‘Novisgradsko Proljece’ drama program and song writing (in Croatian and English) occupying her free time.
Technology and creativity are also areas that fascinate Josie. In 2012 she won third prize at the StartUp weekend in Zagreb with her ‘Animingles’ iPhone app. A book was published soon after and promoted at the Interliber book fair in 2013 and is available in bookshops throughout Croatia. Josie also attended her first Coding Conference this summer where she pitched her idea for a teen girl coding series called the ‘Pyxie Dust Project.’
Since starting her new school in 7th grade last year, she joined the Zvjezdice Choir, performing at Vatroslav Lisinski Concert Hall and HNK/Croatian National Theatre, as well as in a duet with the opera legend Ivanka Boljkovac at the 25th Christmas Concert in Zagreb.
She has also launched her own YouTube channel as her summer vacation project which features her own writing, acting, directing and editing of video shorts on a variety of themes.
